Num bering-machine



(No Model.) 2 sheetssheet 1.

E. G. BATES. NUMBBRING MACHINE.

N0."489,449. Y Patented Jan. 10, 1893.

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2 Sheets Sheet 2.-

Patented Jen. 10, 1893.

13M @1Mo/Luego I (No Model.)

E. G. BATES. NUMBERING MACHINE.

" NrTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN G. BATES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE BATES MANU-FAOTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK.

NUMBERING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 489,449, dated January10, 1893.

Application filed October 2, 1891l Serial No. 407,515. (No modelJ To @ZZwhom, it may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWIN G. BATES, a citizen of the'United States,residing at New York city, in the county and State of New York, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Numbering-Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to simplify the construction of handnumbering machines and more especially that style of machine known as ayardage machine which is the numbering machine generally used forstamping the number of yards contained in a piece of cloth, ribbon, &c.uponatag to be attached to such material.

The changing of the type-Wheels in this class of machine is done bymeans of fingerlevers and contains no mechanism for changing the wheelsautomatically. The reason for this is that the printing of numbers withyardage machines is seldom consecutive and by employing finger-leversthe Wheels are independently changeable and are therefore more readilybrought to the desired position.

By my invention the size and Weight of the machineis considerablyreduced and the various parts are so constructed that prolonged use willbe attendant with a minimum of fatigue to the operator, and my inventionconsists in the v arious novel devices and combinations of deviceshereinafter set forth and pointed out by the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, Figure l is a frontelevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation; Fig. 3 is apartial elevation and vertical section looking from the left of Fig. 2;Fig. -1 is a View showing the position of the ink-pad box when inposition for receiving a supply of ink; Fig. 5 is an enlarged Viewshowing the means for keeping the ink pad box locked in its normalposition; Fig. 5a is an enlarged perspective view of the lever forremoving the inking pad from contact with the typewheels before rotatingthe same; Fig. 6 is a view showing the manner of fastening the handle tothe shank which carries the operating parts; Fig. 7 is a longitudinalsection of the hub, type-wheels and stationary disks; Fig. 8 is a viewof the hub with the retaining pawls for the wheels omitted, showing thecavities wherein these pawls are placed; Fig. 9 is a view of a modifiedform of hub and retaining pawls, the pawls being made of pieces ofspring metal; Fig. l0 is an end view of the same and a wheel placedthereon showing the notched or corrugated inner periphery of the Wheelwith which the spring pawls engage; Fig. ll is aview, partly in sectionand partly in elevation, of a portion of the hub and a type-wheel,showing the form of drop-cipher employed; and Fig. 12 is a view of thehub showing one of the cavities for the retaining pawls extended so asto form lthemeans for holding the dropcipher out of the printingposition.

1 is a U-shaped frame in which Works the ends of the type-wheel shaft2,upon which is placed the hub 3, carrying the type-wheels, the wholebeing supported in the casing 4, placed at the lower end of a plunger 5,which works in the collar 6 upon frame l. The plunger 5 has a handle 7at its upper end and inside the plunger is placed a spiral spring S,held between the pin 9 and the inside of the handle. The pin 9 is passedthrough openings in the collar 6 and thc slots l0 on each side of theplunger 5, which permits the plunger to be forced downward when printingand is returned to its normal position by the spring S.

In the machine as illustrated there are three type-wheels. ll is theunit wheel; l2 is the tens wheel; and 13 is the fraction wheel. 1

Heretofore in numbering machines having" the shifting pawls for thetype-wheels working on the outside of the Wheel, as distinguished fromwheels rotated by pawls working in notches on the inner periphery of thewheel, such pawls operated in the teeth of ratchet wheels rigidlysecured to the printing wheels. These ratchet wheels of courseconsiderably increased the total width of the machine and addedconsiderably to the weight and ccst thereof. In some cases it has beenproposed to advance type-wheels by means of notches between the type,but in these cases complicated pawl mechanism for advancing the wheelswas necessary. The type-wheels employed by me are substantially thewidth required for the face of the type and simple advancing pawls areemployed. The charac- IOC) ters on the wheels are as usual cutin relief,

but the spaces between the characters are so cut as to form an angularnotch, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and l1 of the drawings, thus 5forming upon the outerperipheryof the wheels and between each characterthe notches 11 with which the pawls for actuating the wheels engage,said pawls riding directly over the face of the numerals. The pressureof the pawls upon the face of the type being very slight, no injury isapt to result to the type from the constant travel of the pawls overthem. By forming the notches on the Awheels in this mannerit will beseen the width of the machine is considerably reduced.

The changing of the type-wheels is done by the finger-levers 14, 15 and16. These levers are pivoted on the pin 17 supported in the uprights 1Sextending from the casing 4. The lower ends of the levers enter intoslots 19 formed in the sliding bars 20, 21 and 22, which bars are placedin ducts or channels formed in the top piece of the casing 4; thechannels are slotted for a portion of their length as at 23, throughwhich slots extend i thelngs 24, 25 and 2G depending from the "rearendsot the sliding bars 20, 2l and 22, re-

spectively, and upon these lugs are pivoted the pawls 2T, 28 and 29,respectively. These pawls engage with the notches 1la on the type-wheelsto`\actuate the same. The pawls have hair-springs placed in a cavityformed in their upper sides, which springs act to force the pawls intothe notches 11a.

Pivoted upon a bar 33 supported between the two uprights 18, which asbefore stated are carried by frame 4, and below the pivots of thelinger-levers is a spring-pressed lever 3l, which engages with theprojections 32 on the linger-levers 14, 15 and 16. The lever 31 has twocurved lower legs 3l which bear against the under side of the top partof frame 1. Upon operating any of the fingerlevers to rotate atype-wheel, the projection 32 will force the lever 3l downward, and byreason of the legs 3l bearing against the frame 1 it will give a slightdownward movement to the casing 4 and consequentlyaslight downwardmovement is given to the inking pad box away from the wheels. If thecasing 4 should be held stationary and the lever 14, 15 or 16 beoperated, the frame 1 would be moved relative to the casing, and thiswould accomplish the same result as the downward movement of the casing4. The lower ends of the finger-levers have a very slight free movementin the slots 19, so that the projections 32 will act on the lever 3lbefore motion is communicated to the rotating pawls. The movement giventhe inking pad box through the'lever 3l is just sufficient to place thepad out of contact with the face of the type.

The pivot bar 33 of the lever 31 has coiled around it a spring 33. Theends of this spring bear against the front of the lever and at themiddle the spring has a loop in it which bears against the top-plate ofthe casing 4; this gives more pressure to the spring when it isstrained. This spring serves to return the finger-levers and type-wheelpawls to their normal position, after rotating the wheels.

The top-piece of the casing 4 has a flange 34 projecting from itsunderside and passing through this flange are set-screws 35, 36 and 37.These setscrews are adjustable so as to limit the forward movement ofthe type-wheel pawls. It will be readily seen that these limiting stopsprovide a simple and efficient means for securing the proper distance ofrotation of the type-wheels for bringing the numerals into the printingposition.

The hub 3 has recesses formed therein into which are placed theretaining pawls 3S for preventing a backward movement ofthe type wheelswhile the shifting-pawls are returning to their normal position.

In Figs. 9 and 10 is shown a modified form of hub and type-wheel. Inthis form instead ot the retaining pawls 38, I employ pawls 41 made ofspring metal. The hub 3 has a section cut out of it, either angular asshown or any other form. A clamping-piece 42 of a shape corresponding tothe cut-out section of the hub is employed to hold the spring metalpawls in place. In theform shown the spring metal pawls are bent into anangle at 43, vwhich part is held between the angle formed in the hub 3and the clamp 42. Pins 44serve to hold the clamp in place. The outerends of the pawls 41 are curved to fit corresponding notches formed uponthe inner periphery of the type-wheel. These notches however may be ofany other desired form and the ends of the spring metal pawls bent to acorresponding shape. The type-wheels have placed between them thin disks40 and the wheels are mortised to receive the disks thus permitting thewheels to be brought close together. The hub has a slot 39 formedtherein as shown in Figs. 3'and 7, to which slot the disks 40 are keyedso that they will be stationary with relation to the type-wheels. Theobject of these stationary disks is to permit of the rotation of eachtype-wheel independently and without liability of rotating its adjoiningwheel through friction or otherwise.

In ayardage machine having -three wheels (a unit, a tens, and fractionWheel) it is not necessary to have a drop-cipher. The unit wheel hasnumerals 1 to 0, the tens wheel l to 9 and a blank space, and thefraction wheel the desired fractions and one or more blank spaces. Toprint the single numerals the unit wheel is brought to any desirednumber and the tens and fraction wheels to a blank space.

In a machine having a unit, tens and hundredths wheel, o1' more, it issometimes desirable, in order to be capable of printing with the unitwheel only, to have a drop-cipher in the wheels intermediate the unitand last wheel, or else to provide wheels with eleven spaces, having thenumerals 1 to O and a blank space. The fraction-wheel has 011e or moreIOO I ID

blank spaces to permit even numbers to be printed. In Fig. 11 is shown aform of dropcipher which I prefer to employ. The ciphersection 45 fitsinto the recess 45 cut the width of the wheel and is supported upon thestem 46 which works through the hole 46a. The stem 46 is recessed at 47and a pin 48 passes through the type-wheel against which the shoulderformed by the recess strikes and prevents the cipher-section fromdropping out of the-wheel or being forced farther out of the recess 45athan the printing position by the spring 49 coiled around the stem 46.This spring is coiled in a conical shape so that when the drop-cipher isheld out of the printing position the space occupied by the springcompressed is only the thickness of the wire. This allows more bearingsurface for the stem, as the recess 45nd need only be slightly deeperthan the thickness of the cipher-section. The inner end of the stem 46is reduced to form a head 50,which when the drop-cipher is pressedinward will fit into the cavity 5l .formed in the hub 3. This cavity ispreferably made as an extension of the cavities for the retaining-pawls38, as shown in Figs. 1l and l2. To place the cipher out of the printingposition the type-wheel is turned to bring the cipher slightly past theprinting position (which would be as shown in Fig. 11), so that the stemwould be free to be pressed down into the cavity holding pawl 38 and ona backward movement the head 50 is forced into the cavity 51 and held inthat position by the overhanging ledge 52. When the wheel is rotated toprint another number the head will pass from under the ledge 52 and thespring 47 will force the drop-cipher into its printing position again.

The ink pad boX is a modification of the one shown in my patent No.456,874. On the lower edge of the frame 55 at a point about midwaybetween the sides of the frame is formed a projection 58 in any suitablemanner, and this projection bears against a rounded section 58 at themiddle of the boX 57. The projection 58 acts as a wedge to hold the box57 in place when returned to the position shown in Fig. 5, which is anenlarged view.

In Fig.4 is shown the position in which the ink-pad box is held whilesupplying it with ink. To ink the pad the handlel 7 is forced down as inprinting and when the enlargement 53 of the slot lO is opposite the head54 (Fig. 2) on the pin 9 the said head is pressed into it and the casing4 held in the position shown. The pad is then brought to the positionshown, by drawing the pivoted ink pad oase outward, using the handle 56.

It has been the practice in the manufacture of hand numbering machinesto screw the handle 7 direct upon the shank 5, but Very often the handleis screwed so far down on the shank as to cause the shank to jam hardupon t-he inside of the handle, resulting in either the stripping of thethreadl in the wooden handle or causing it to split. I overcome thisobjection by screwing upon the shank the nut 59 (Fig. 6) to a point atwhich the handle will meet it before the inside can jam upon the upperedge of the shank. In

addition to this function the nut acts as a ciprocatorycharacter-bearing' wheels provid- A ed with notches upon theirperipheries intermediate the characters and of substantially the formshown, pawls engaging with said notches, there being a pawl for eachwheel and means foi-.operating said pawls to rotate the wheels,substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a printing machine, of character-bearing wheelsmortised on adjacent faces `and provided with notches on theirperipheries intermediate the characters, shifting pawls workingin saidnotches, means for operating said pawls, and disks in the spaces formedby the mortises, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination in a printing machine of character-bearing wheelshaving their sides mortised, and stationary disks between saidtype-wheels and fittinginto said mortises, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination,in aprinting machine, of a hub or shaft,character-bearing wheels side by side thereon and near together,adjacent faces of the wheels being mortised, and

a disk, thicker than the space between the peripheries of twoadjacentwheels, placed between such wheels so that the disk occupies theenlarged space without increasing the distance between the Wheels,substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, in a hand stamp, of a hub or shaft, and means forreciprocating it character-bearin g wheels side by side thereon and neartogether, adjacent faces of the wheels being mortised, and a disk,secured to the hub or shaft, thicker than the space between theperipheries of two adjacent wheels, placed between such wheels so thatthe disk occupies the enlarged space without increasing the distancebetween the wheels, substantially as set forth.

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7. In a numbering machine, the combination of type-wheels having notcheson their inner peripheries,a shaft or hub upon which said wheels rotate,spring metal pawls 41 secured to said shaft or hub, the free ends ofsaid pawls being shaped to correspond to the notches on theinnerperipheries of said wheels and engaging therewith, and means foractuating said wheels, substantially as set forth.

8. In a numbering machine, the combination of type-wheels having notcheson their inner peripheries,a shaft or hub upon which said Wheels rotate,spring metal pawls 41 secured in a recess formed in said shaft or hub bythe clamping plate 42, the free ends of said pawls being shaped tocorrespond to the notcheson theinner peripheries of said wheels, andengaging therewith, and means for actuating said wheels, substantiallyas set forth.

9. In a printing or numbering machine, the

combination of type-wheels, an inking pad boX 57 pivoted in a frame 55,said frame 55 having a projection 58 acting as a wedge to lock said padbox 57 in the frame, means for actuating said type-wheels, and means forremoving said inking pad from its inking position when printing,substantially as set forth.

10. In a numberingr machine, the combina-` tion of finger-levers, alever 31 having legs 31, projections 32 on said linger-levers engagingwith said lever 3l, said finger-levers and lever 3l being pivoted to orupon arms extending from the casing 4, and said legs 31 engaging withthe main frame l, substantially as and,

for the purpose set'forth.,

11. In a numbering machine, the combination of finger-levers pivotedbetween arms extending from the casing 4, a lever 3l pivoted upon a bar33 supported between said arms, said lever 31 having legs which engagewith the main frame 1, projections 32 on said finger-levers engagingwith said lever 31, and a spring 33 coiled around said pivot bar 33tLhaving its ends bearing against the lever 3l, and a loop formed at themiddle bearing against the casing 4, for returning the levers to theirnormal position,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

12. In a numbering machine, the combination of type wheels carried on ashaft or hub supported in a reciprocating casing 4, pawls 27, 28 and 29engaging with said type-wheels, finger-levers connected to said pawls bybars 20, 2l and 22 for actuating said pawls to rotate thetype-wheels,substantially as set forth.

13. In a numbering machine, the combination of type wheels carried on ashaft or hub supported in a casing 4, pawls 27, 28 and 29 engaging withsaid type-wheels, sliding bars 20, 21 and 22 working in channels formedin the top piece of said casing 4, lugs 24,25 and 26 connectedrespectively to one end of said bars, said channels having slots throughwhich said lugs extend, and to which lugs said pawls 27, 28 and 29 arepivoter?, and finger-levers entering slots formed at the other ends ofsaid sliding bars, whereby motion is commu nicated to said sliding barsand pawls to operate the type-wheels, substantially as set forth.

14. In a numbering machine, the combination of a type-wheel, a hub uponwhich said type-Wheel rotates, a loose section in said type-wheelcarried by a stem working radially in said type-wheel, said stem havinga shoulder or head formed at its free end, a cavity formed in the hubhaving an overhanging-ledge which engages with the shoulder or headformed on the vstern when said head is forced into the cavity, wherebysaid loose section is held out of its normal position,and a spring formoving said section to printing position substantially as set forth.

15. In a numbering machine the combination of a type-wheel, a hub uponwhich said type-wheel rotates, a loose section in said type-wheelcarried by a stem working radially in said type-wheel, said stem havinga shoulder or head formed at its free end, a cavity formed in the hubhaving an overhanging-ledge which engages with the shoulder or headformed in the stem when said head is forced into the cavity, wherebysaid loosesection is held out of its normal position, and a springcoiled around the stem as shown for returning the loose section to itsnormal or printing position, substantially as set forth.

16. In a numbering machine the combinaotion with a plunger carrying thecasing con taining the printing mechanism, of a jam-nut screwed ontosaid plunger, said nut having a ange or collar formed thereon which sur-EDWIN G. BATES.

Witnesses:

J. A. YOUNG,

W. PELZER.

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